In a time when churches are navigating cultural shifts, financial pressures, and evolving expectations of leadership, bivocational pastoral ministry is emerging not just as a necessity for some, but as a strategic and deeply biblical model for many. Far from being a second-rate option, bivocational ministry offers rich opportunities for spiritual leadership, community engagement, and personal resilience.

At its heart, bivocational ministry simply means that a pastor holds another job in addition to their role in the church. This can be part-time or full-time work in a variety of fields from teaching and counselling to trades, business, or non-profit work. Historically, this model is nothing new. The Apostle Paul supported himself by making tents (Acts 18:3), ensuring he could preach the gospel without being a financial burden to the early church. For Paul, tentmaking wasn’t just about survival; it was a way to model service, connect with people in daily life, and maintain a posture of humility.

Honey We’re Shrinking the Church!

Here in Queensland, the Baptist denomination is one made up primarily of small churches. In 2024 the average QB church has a weekly attendance of 149 people, and baptised 6 people. The median attendance is lower than 70. The few large churches lift the mean. Here’s the breakdown:

63 churches under 50 people.

67 churches under 50-100 people.

61 churches 100-300 people.

17 churches 300+ people.

62% are under 100 people on a Sunday.

Queensland Baptist is looking at adding another 100 churches (new church plants and revitalised churches) over the next 8 years. The vast majority of those churches will not be able to afford a full-time pastor, making bivocational ministry the most attractive option. But going bivocational shouldn’t have to driven by economic necessity. It can be a choice.  For the Apostle Paul, tentmaking wasn’t just about survival; it was a way to model service, connect with people in daily life, and maintain a posture of humility.

Today, bivocational pastors can bring that same spirit into modern ministry in profound and practical ways. I’ve enjoyed the bivocational challenge for the last 11 years, and I greatly value the blessing that has come from a varied work and community life. Here are several key advantages to this model:

1. Financial Sustainability for Churches

Not all churches, especially small, rural, or church plants can afford to pay a full-time pastor. Bivocational ministry provides a financially viable solution that allows congregations to continue receiving spiritual care without bearing an unsustainable burden. This also shifts the focus away from the church being a provider of salaries to being a community of shared responsibility and mission. Bivocational pastors provide extra capability to church movements.

2. Missional Connection with the Community

Bivocational pastors are not cloistered away in church offices, stuck inside the bubble of church and church families. They’re shoulder to shoulder with local people in their workplaces, engaging in the same struggles and joys and building relationships faster than they possibly could in a full time role. This embeddedness in daily life enhances pastoral credibility and empathy. When a pastor understands the pressures of a 9-to-5 job, financial strain, or navigating secular spaces, they can preach with authenticity and walk alongside congregants more meaningfully.

3. Modelling Vocation as Worship

When pastors engage in secular work alongside ministry, they model an important theological truth: all work can be sacred. This helps break down the false divide between “ministry work” and “secular work” and empowers laypeople to see their jobs as avenues of faithful service. A bivocational pastor naturally reinforces that God’s mission extends beyond the walls of the church.

4. Professional Development

Pastors who work outside of the church bubble can learn skills and systems they aren’t exposed to inside the walls of church, which enhances their own ministry and contribution inside church. Through my work in the army, in a federal government agency and running my own businesses I have benefitted from learning skills in planning, logistics, marketing, finance, communication, human resource management, safety, etc. I can personally tell from a mile off a pastor or denominational leader who has never worked outside the of the microcosm of the church, and it is too their disadvantage.

5. Multiplication of Leadership

Bivocational ministry challenges churches to raise up other leaders. When a pastor’s time is limited, more responsibility naturally shifts to elders, deacons, and lay leaders. This can create a healthier, more sustainable model of church leadership that avoids unhealthy dependence on a single figure and cultivates a broader base of spiritual maturity. I’ll never forget a church meeting I participated in the direct aftermath of the announcement of the resignation of our pastor of care. One of the church founders stood up and said with an air of desperation “Who is going to care for us now?!”. I replied “We are going to care for one another”. The reply went down like a lead balloon.

Bivocational ministry should not be seen as an option dictated by economic necessity. It is a vocation, one that reflects humility, resourcefulness, and theological depth. For many pastors, it is not simply a necessity it is a calling.

In a world where the Church must continually adapt while remaining rooted in gospel truths, bivocational ministry offers a flexible, incarnational, and resilient model of leadership. It reminds us that ministry is not confined to pulpits or programs, but is lived out wherever people are found, in boardrooms, classrooms, construction sites, cafes or wherever your work may take you.

And in that sacred mix of daily work and pastoral presence, the Kingdom of God quietly and powerfully takes root.

Check out this article from Andrew Hamilton and this book by him on the subject.